Monday, April 28, 2008

Helpful Advice

Hey guys! As the semester comes to an end and summer gets closer and closer I've been thinking about the classes I have taken this past semester. Even though this business writing class has been one of my easier classes this semester, that does not have anything to do with the fact that it was one of my favorites as well. Being a business major I could relate to a lot of things we had to learn and accomplish in the class. Some advice I would give to future students would be while this class is easier I wouldn't wait to the last minute to get things done. My partner and I both had very hectic schedules and many of the time we would have to wait till Sunday to finish our work. Another piece of advice would be to read the chapters and use the outlines for memos or documents needed. The book can be very helpful and informative while not boring like most. I did not like the Second Life application only because it didn't work a lot of the time. I believe using a Instant Messenger would have been more efficient and reliable. If you have any questions about the course, Angie is very helpful and she is more than willing to go out of her way for you. Good Luck!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

A Failure in Ethics

As I wrote last week, there are many times when an ethical issue will come up in your business life. In class this week we further discussed moments in time when ethical issues were acknowledged and not handled ethically. After discussing this, I decided to look further into it and find a time in recent years when someones life might have been put in danger because of someones unethical decision. It just so happened that while I was studying for a Law 322 test, I found a case in which Guidant Corporation didn't recall a heart defibrillator and put thousands of lives at risk. The malfunction in the device was discovered in 2002 but was not recalled until nearly 3 years later. The company's excuse for not recalling sooner was that the risk of removing the device was greater than the risk of malfunction. Not only did they wait 3 years to inform individuals of the malfunction, Guidant admitted to not believing the "modified" version from 2002 actually fixed the problem. This simply blew my mind, I do not understand how a company can knowingly harm innocent people because they think some risks outweigh other risks. The least they could have done was offer the knowledge to doctors and patients that it affected and allow them to make their own decision. The malfunctioning device resulted in at least 7 deaths. This may not seem important to many people, however I do believe the families that lost someone would greatly disagree.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Truth in Business Ethics

The article in which we were asks to read and reflect on was very informative and held statistics that I never would have thought of before. Ethical lapses in the workplace can cause many problems on many levels. When a employer hires someone they do so on the basis that they believe the applicant is honest and trustworthy. Therefore, the employer believes that if their employee is faced with an issue they will do not only do what is right for the company but what is right in the eyes of society.

As I have been working since the age of 16 I have been faced with many ethical situations, whether it be myself in the situation or others. I definitely agree with the fact that it can cause "dissonance and distraction" in the workplace. There have been times where I have been put in situations that looking in retrospect I believe I could and should have handled differently. However, having said that I also try to keep in mind that you can only learn and mature from your mistakes and that is what I am going to continue to do.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Web, Paper, Scissors

The difference between writing on the Web and writing on paper today has changed dramatically compared to that of 20 years ago. The primary difference I feel like in writing on the Web is the fact that we have gotten in such a hurry that Web writing is not quite as formal. As our technology has advanced over the years we have gotten to the point that sending a letter through the mail is almost nonexistent. We rely almost solely on the speed of our internet and I don't think I could comprehend spending a week to send a letter back and forth compared to e-mailing a letter where it takes mere seconds. Now comparing this to 20 years ago writing on the internet was not nearly as popular. Not many people had computers, much less the internet so writing on paper was more efficient so that it complied with everyone, not just the few people that were fortunate enough to have the internet.

Now even though paper and internet writing seem dramatically different I also believe they have a lot of things in common. They both reach out to a specific audience and require research to back up ideas. Another similarity is the fact that writing on both paper and the Web is they both require the critical thinking involved in any type of writing.

As I stated earlier, we have gotten in such a hurry in today's society that we tent to shorten things and have certain abbreviations for certain words. One of the most important things I believe when transferring from paper to the Web is to understand and acknowledge that not everyone is aware of these short cuts in writing.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Spring Break and Summer Plans

So this was the first week back after Spring Break and I'm not going to lie, I would have much rather been back in Charleston by the Beach. Even though it was far too cold to lay on the beach it was better than being at the library (Where I happen to be right now actually). After deliberating many summer options I've finally decided that I will be moving down to Charleston with two very good friends. Since I have always wanted to own my own restaurant I want to get a job at a nice restaurant downtown, which I hope won't be too hard with my experience and the fact that summer in a beach town will be the busiest time of the year. The living arrangement is posing to be a small problem. We first found a house to sublease for pretty good rent but my friends mother didn't believe the neighborhood to be safe. Then the other apartment we had lined up does not allow pets. So wish us luck and be very jealous because while some of you will be doing work and school over the summer, I will be at the beach! :)

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The worth of a lie

This week we were asked to read and reflect on an article written about people who choose to lie on their resume. I believe that most people think that there is no harm in a little white lie or boost on their resume, but if people would take into consideration how they would feel in the same situation then people would be less likely to lie. Honesty is one of the most important qualities a person can possess and it would be better to get the job truthfully then under false pretenses. This explains why Mary was fired because even though she did her job successfully she received the job by lying and her employer could no longer trust her. Trust is something that shouldn't be taken lightly and once it is taken away it is very hard to get back. Now Mary has to try and find a new job without a reference from her job that she has been doing for the past two years of her life. So people need to understand the importance of being truthful because honesty is far more crucial to an employer than a better resume.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Interviews and Company

This week in SL I interviewed for a dream job of mine, Marketing Adviser for a music company. When I was answering interview questions I tried to keep in mind how I would answer a question if I were face to face with my potential employer. I tried to incorporate my past work experience and show the potential employer what type of employee I would be. Hopefully showing them that I would be a great addition to their company.

My group chose a clothing company to create and market. We met in Second Life and figured out a lot of the basic things we want our company to include. We realized that we want to start out small and with time expand. We would like to start out with womens clothing, targeting the college age, which would be from about 18 to 25. The type of clothing we are going to provide are going out tops, pants and dresses. Being college students ourselves we realized that the clothing will need to be more affordable but still dressy enough to go out on the town in.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Rip off the band-aid

This past week I realized something that I never understood before. Everyone goes out searching for that one person that will complete their life, when in all actuality our life should be complete without them and they should just add to the picture. I've been in a roller coaster of a relationship for the past 8 months. I was dating a guy over the summer that had to leave for Japan for two years because he is in the Marine Corps. We stayed together for the first 4 months until he informed me that he couldn't be with me until he came home. It put so much tension on the relationship and recently it has been nearly unbearable. But I realized something this past week. It's easier to just go ahead and rip off the band-aid and face the pain all at once then slowly tear it away and prolong the pain for longer than necessary. I realized that to be happy in a relationship I must be happy with myself first. So that is going to be my goal from now on, to concern myself with only my happiness and allow the pieces to fall into place.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Covering the Basics

I'd never really thought about the cover letter for a resume or what it is was used for. After reading the advice given it really gave me a new perspective of the cover letter. I agreed with the advice given for the most part. I didn't realize that employers don't normally read the cover letter first, it seems like since it is the first thing you see it would also be the first thing read. Another thing that was interesting to me is the fact that he advised not to write the cover letter about yourself. For me the most helpful thing was the advice to write about how you can benefit the company. I believe after reading this tutorial I will be less likely to make mistakes in writing my cover letter.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Personality; First or Second Life

I believe that there are just as many advantages to the online job interviews as there are disadvantages. While you can see what an applicant might choose to wear or choose to ask questions about I do believe a major disadvantage would be the fact that you would not get to see the persons actual skills in communicating. One of the things that I excel in is the fact that I can talk to just about anyone about anything. I pride myself in knowing how to approach people and get them talking to me. I feel like this process cuts out a majority of communication and keeps you from understanding the applicants actual personality. If the personality of the applicant does not affect the effectiveness of whether the person can do their job successfully then I feel like the interviewer would be able to get a quality interview.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Persuasive Writing

In the persuasive piece "Letter From a Birmingham Jail", King uses many tactics to enhance his effectiveness for getting his point across. His main tool for this is how he speaks directly to the audience and their emotions. Throughout the letter he addresses the fact that his sole purpose for his protests is love. He writes with extreme emotion when it comes to the speaking of the broken promises to the people of Birmingham. Although the letter is simply written and not being presented with actual words it is obvious his attachment to the subject.

Being that my major is marketing, it was not a very challenging task to find some type of ad of persuasion. Marketing of course, in itself is the study of introducing and persuading a customer into thinking that that product is the best. I chose an ad off of the Fuse TV website that featured Broadband High Speed Internet through Fuse music. The letter was written casually using phrases like "surfing the web" to appeal to the young audience that would be using the website. It was brief, to the point and addressed all benefits of the product. Comparing this letter to "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" they are quite the opposite. While King's letter is written to appeal to the audiences emotions, the websites letter is written to appeal to a specific audience and that audiences senses rather than emotions.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Years From Today...

Imagining what life will be like in ten years is difficult, but at the same time very intriguing. Because I have been working since I was 15 years old the thought of finishing school and having an actual career does not scare me at all, I actually enjoy the idea. However the one thing I am afraid of is the loftiness of my career goals. Since my success and career have always been more important to me than being married and settled down I want to have a job that will allow me to travel. I would like to be a marketing adviser for either a music company or a music artists. To be successful in this career I believe I will need to move to a larger city like Chicago or New York which has always been a dream of mine. Once I have established myself in one of these cities and have worked as this adviser I eventually would like to own my Fine-Dining Restaurant.

On a more personal level, I hope to be married between the ages of 25 and 30. Starting my family with my husband no earlier than 30. That way we have time together to become closer and hopefully traveling to not only places among the U.S. but also places like Paris, Rome and Italy. When it comes to anything more in depth than that I really have no idea. It's hard to know where I will end up in ten years when I barely know where I stand right now. Not knowing who I will end up with puts a slight dilemma on where we will be since it will depend also on his career decision. Having said all this I do not want to limit myself to all of these things. When it comes to my life I tend to have a very spontaneous approach and I believe that's what interests me the most in my future.

~Kallie J


Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Machine is Us/ing Us

The title of the video chosen to watch is The Machine is Us/ing Us. The title has an important meaning and it causes you to think about what you have just watched. The fact that the they spell "using" "us/ing" is important because the whole video is a futuristic way of looking at the web. I think the title means that as society becomes more intelligent so do our machines. We are teaching machines to do everything for us but when it comes down to it we are relying on them and therefore give them the power.

Looking back twenty years ago the Web seemed to only be a fad but in todays society many people couldn't go a day without it. As for someone entering the workforce the Web is a critical part of getting a job. It makes information more available and literally at the touch of a button. As for people that are already in the workforce it is important because we must learn with the machines. Technology grows more vast everyday and we must learn to accept and continue forward instead of being left behind. I believe that when it says we will have to rethink everything it means that we must understand that as we have already come so far we still have further to go. By "rethinking everything" or putting a new perspective on things we will be able to move mountains at the touch of a single button.

~ Kallie J

Friday, January 18, 2008

My name is Kallie Jeanette Jordan and I am moving in to the second semester of my sophomore year. I'm from Iva, which is a very small town right outside of Anderson. It's only about 45 minutes away but many people have never heard of it. I am the middle child of five and all of my siblings name start with "K"; Kristin, Katelin, Kallie, Kody, and Kensley. In Iva, I grew up on a farm which was always interesting because you never knew what new animals you are going to come home to. As of right now I live in Central at University Village with two of my best friends. I have a 7 month old puppy, Dakota. He's part lab, part husky and completely spoiled rotten. I work at Pixie and Bill's restaurant, Richard McClellion's Law office and the Anderson Jockey lot, so I'm always on the go. If you have any more questions feel free to let me know or instant message me at clmsnqt10.

~ Kallie J